Indian National Congress
Moderate
 Founded in 1885 with the objective of obtaining a greater share in government for educated Indians,
the Indian National Congress was initially not opposed to British rule.
 Indeed, a prominent figure was a Scotsman, Allan Octavian Hume, who helped organise its first
meeting in Bombay, with the approval of Lord Dufferin, the then-Viceroy.
 For many years after its foundation, Congress remained a large meeting that met once a year during
December (a forum for discussion).
 Although in the beginning Congress was dominated by Hindus, most of whom were high-caste,
both Hindus and Muslims came to Congress and were prominent in its affairs. By the third meeting
of Congress, held in Madras, were 83 of the 600 delegates.
 The Congress had gained enormously in popularity among the educated and commercial middle
class.
 Gradually the committee in charge of organizing the meetings became the representatives of
Congress and this created the conditions for a permanent political party.
 Congress adopted a strategy of lobbying MPs in Britain itself and so most of Congress’ early activity
was directed at raising money to fund a small organization, office and newspaper in London.
 Most of the demands of Congress were related to increasing education and access to positions in the
administration of India.
Increasing radicalism
 At the turn of the century the INC became more radical in the face of constant opposition from the
government and the hated partition of Bengal by Curzon in 1905, and thus the party became very
active in the independence movement.
 Indeed, in protest at the partition of Bengal, Congress played a leading role in a popular campaign of
swadesh (a boycott of buying British goods).
 By 1907 the party was split into two halves—the Garam Dal (literally "hot faction") of Bal
Gangadhar Tilak, or Extremists, and the Naram Dal (literally "soft faction") of Gopal Krishna
Gokhale, or Moderates—distinguished by their attitude towards the British.
 Indeed, at the 1907 Congress (indeed, the location of the meeting had been changed by moderates
from Nagpur to one of their strongholds, Surat) there rowdy scenes between the two sections. After
the election of a moderate president, Tilak asked to speak, was ignored and promptly started to
interrupt the president’s opening speech. There was even greater uproar, during which Gokhale
attempted to physically protect his great rival. At some point a show was thrown which struck one
of the leaders. A full-scale brawl of hundreds broke out, the police arrived and proceedings were
aborted.
 Moderates effectively took control of Congress for the next decade as the radicals were excluded.
 Congress’ moderate stance was again shown during the First World War and led to more defections,
notably Annie Beasant who set up her All-India Home Rule League, and Motilal Nehru, the father
of Jawaharlal Nehru.
 It was only after the First World War, with the disappointment with British reforms (the MontaguChelmsford Reforms and the Rowlatt Acts in 1919) and the Amritsar Massacre that Congress was to
take a more radical stand and demand greater self-government.
Muslim political developments
 Although Hindus clearly dominated the Indian National Congress, other religions were present
within its organization. Indeed, a leading Congressman was Dadabhai Naoroji, a Parsi, who was the
first Indian MP, when he moved to Britain and was elected the Liberal MP for Finsbury Central in
1892.
 Muslims were also involved, including Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who was a member from 1906 to
1920.
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However, some Muslims were to be concerned with a number of developments within the Indian
National Congress.
Most worrying for some Muslims was Congress’s attitude towards Lord Curzon’s partition in Bengal
in 1905, which created a Muslim-majority province (East Bengal).
The fury of Hindus in Congress to this development convinced some Muslims that as and when
Indians were permitted to take part in government, they would be overwhelmed by the general
Hindu majority.
To safeguard their interests, Muslim leaders drew up a plan for separate elections and presented to
the new Viceroy, Lord Minto, at the British summer capital of Simla in 1906 (Simla Deputation).
Minto responded sympathetically to the demand and stressed that Muslim political rights and
interests would be protected by the British and in any administrative reforms.
The All-India Muslim League
 The leader of the Simla delegation, Sir Aga Khan III, urged the creation of a permanent Muslim
political organization to keep up the momentum of the campaign.
 As a result, in December 1906, the All-India Muslim League was founded at Decca, Bengal.
 It was for many years little more than a debating society for its educated memebrs.
 However, by 1916 it was sufficiently important to be part of the agreement with Congress over
future political demands known as the Lucknow Pact.
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